Trucking tonnage up 5.9% in 2011 vs. 2010

ERJ staff report (TB)

Washington DC - Trucking activity in the US rose nearly 6 percent last year, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said this week, the largest annual gain in 13 years.

The ATA monitors the amount of truck tonnage activity in the US each month based on reports by its member trucking companies.

The tonnage shipped in December jumped 10.5 percent over December 2009 and also was 6.8 percent ahead of November 2011, the largest month-to-month gain since January 2005.

“While I'm not surprised that tonnage increased in December, I am surprised at the magnitude of the gain,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. “Not only did truck tonnage increase due to solid manufacturing output in December, but also from some likely inventory restocking.

“Inventories, especially at the retail level, are exceedingly lean,” he added, “and I suspect that tonnage was higher than expected as the supply chain did some restocking during the month.”

The seasonally adjusted index for December was 124.5, up from 116.6 in November. The ATA uses the year 2000 as a baseline.

From Tire Business  (A Crain publication)